Mark Pryor: clerk will call the roll. a senator: mr. president, i ask unanimous consent to suspend the quorum call. the presiding officer: without objection, so ordered. a senator: as a junior senator representing the state of illinois and one who will lead a celebration of president reagan's life in chicago saturday night for sunday, the

Mark Pryor: 100th birthday of our native illinoisan, the 40th president, ronald reagan, i want to talk for a moment about his life and what he has meant to the united states now on the 100th anniversary of president reagan's birth. mr. kirk: on february 6, 1911

Mark Pryor: in tampico, illinois, with a population of 820, john and nellie reagan welcomed a child who would one day change the direction not just of our country but the world. according to the reagan family lore, when he first gazed upon his son, john reagan prophetically kweupd he looks

Mark Pryor: like a fat little dutch man. but who knows, one day he may grow up to be president one day. his father was a strong believer in the american dream and nellie reagan passed on to her son her penchant to always look for the good in people regardless of their position.

Mark Pryor: it was those lessons in perseverance and faith that would inspire ronald reagan to pursue his dream of becoming a hollywood actor. he signed his first professional acting contract in 1935 and went on to enjoy a successful career on the silver screen. but by 1946, after serving three years in the army air force

Mark Pryor: intelligence corps during the height of world war ii, he began to have ambitions beyond hollywood. after five-year stint as the president of the screen actors gild laid the foundation for ronald reagan's political career. during the turmoil of the hollywood communism craze, reagan proved himself to be a

Mark Pryor: skilled dealmaker and an influential leader as he successfully navigated the upheaval in the hollywood community. in 1964, ronald reagan was thrust into the national spotlight as he gave his televised speech entitled "a time for choosing" in support of the presidential nominee, barry goldwater.

Mark Pryor: following his speech, a group of influential citizens became convinced that ronald reagan should become the next governor of california. after winning a primary and enduring a very hard-fought campaign, ronald reagan unseated the two-time governor of california, pat brown, to become the 33rd governor in california's history.

Mark Pryor: during his two terms as governor, californians enjoyed a smaller, less costly and more efficient state government. governor reagan returned $5 billion to the taxpayers and used his line-item veto authority 943 times to ensure that the state's budget matched

Mark Pryor: its priorities. ronald reagan had once again proved himself a determined and capable leader in difficult times. but soon the american people would learn that his best days were very much ahead of him. after an unsuccessful republican presidential attempt in 1976, he knew that he wanted to be

Mark Pryor: president but would only enter the race if the people of the united states actually wanted him to run. in the years following the 1976 primary, ronald reagan became increasingly concerned about the direction that the country was headed, especially in the areas of national security, unemployment, and the economy.

Mark Pryor: more than anything, reagan sensed that americans had lost their sense of confidence not just in themselves, but also in the country. interestingly, the concerns mr. reagan felt as he weighed the decision to run for president are not unlike many of the challenges we face today. ronald reagan was confident that

Mark Pryor: he was the man who could lead the country out of a dark recession and into the light of a new prosperity and national pride. after winning a landslide election in november, ronald reagan was sworn in as our 40th president on january 20, 1981. he immediately went to work on

Mark Pryor: repairing a broken economy by enacting the economic recovery tax act of 1981 with his solemn belief being that if people had more money in their pockets and confidence to invest, the country would get back on a sound financial footing. during his first months in office, reagan was as much

Mark Pryor: thankful for the newfound economic stability as he was for a heightened sense of optimistic that was returning to the united states after very hard times. he thoughtfully guided this country through a series of national tragedies and terrorist attacks on our military forces abroad. yet through it all, president reagan's resolve never wavered.

Mark Pryor: his confidence in the american people would meet the challenges of the times they faced without faltering. he was a man who, after surviving his own assassination attempt, continued to meet with congressional leaders in his hospital bed as he recovered because he believed it was best and in the intft american people

Mark Pryor: not -- in the interest of the american people to continue to work as he healed. it was that type of steadfast determination that allowed negotiations with soviet leader mikhail gorbachev to move forward and eventually led to the tearing down of the berlin wall, the signing of the i.n.f. treaty and eventually the end of soviet oppression of eastern

Mark Pryor: europe. the issue that got him into politics -- ending the spread of communism -- became the crowning achievement of ronald reagan's presidency. his constant refrain throughout this time in the white house was that government was becoming too big, too inefficient, too unresponsive, and too wasteful.

Mark Pryor: as governor, reagan demonstrated the ability to exercise fiscal restraint as he urged leaders in congress to do the same thing. i think it's appropriate that we are celebrating ronald reagan's 100th birthday at a time when the national debt and deficit are at an all-time high.

Mark Pryor: we know that ronald reagan possessed the willingness to tackle such tough issues and i believe that the lesson we can learn most if his presidency is the endlessly optimistic attitude that he had for the united states, for its people and himself would one day emerge stronger than any of the

Mark Pryor: difficulties he had to overcome. his assertion was that america was -- quote -- "a shining city on a hill." it guided him, as it should guide us. a hard-nosed and gritty politician, reagan would have jumped at the chance to take the responsibility of leading the country out of a very dark

Mark Pryor: recession, as he did in 1981. so as we celebrate ronald reagan's 100th birthday, let us take us -- take a moment to reflect on the life of a man who, as president, always did what was necessary to move the country forward in a way that was most beneficial to his people. now, i know his legacy is most

Mark Pryor: associated with the people of california, but as the junior senator for illinois, we will claim our right to note his birth in tampaco, his childhood in dicks son and his college years at eureka college. we will be very happy to mark the 100th birthday on saturday in chicagoland and through celebrations in other parts of